Your blogger is back...

Back, and hopefully better than ever. The #1 reason I feel ready to return to the blogging world is a little program called Picasa... I spent hours downloading pictures before, and thinking of all the posts I wanted to catch up on was daunting to me. However, with Picasa, I can download several pictures in a snap! This blogger couldn't be happier!

Since my time is quite limited these days, and I feel I spend most of my day feeding our newest little one, my usual evening blogging time has turned into baths, books, and spending hours nursing and settling our little boy into his bedtime routine. And, as most new mothers know, every minute of sleep counts these days and as soon as he is lights out, I am lights out. But, I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and slowly emerging myself back into the real world that continues to buzz around us all. I return back to work tomorrow, part-time. But, adding part-time work to a full time job that you already have as a Mom can be very scary.

The greatest demand for me as a Mom these days for Grant has been Growing him. I was unable to nurse my other two babies, and he and I have been quite successful this time. What I didn't know is how much time I would be physically required to spend with my shirt up, snuggling with him on the couch as he ate. Bottle feeding is different. Usually eaten much faster. Nursing can take HOURS with him, especially in the beginning when he cluster fed like crazy. I just had no idea how time consuming it was. Just fitting in time to cook dinner has been a challenge. Grant is 2 months old now, most recently going through another growth spurt requiring many more hours of feedings. But, he is growing like a weed, and I know that a few months from now, I am going to miss this time. If only I wasn't so motivated to do it all, I would enjoy it more. A personality flaw of mine. Has certainly improved over the last few years, but I still want to have it all, clean house, laundry done, meal on the table, kids happy, fed, and in bed on time. I have certainly sacrificed the clean house this time around, much more than I would like.

And then there is Charlotte. Started her second year of pre-k since she has a September birthday. She has continued doing extra therapy at Ranken Jordan 2 nights a week for an hour each night, rotating OT/PT. That is soon going to change since she has really been wanting to do Dance again. We have compromised therapy 1 night so we can add dance another night. To have activities for her 3 nights out of the week is just too much for us all. Just getting to those activities on time will be very challenging with me returning to work. I sure hope we can do it. Charlotte is doing fantastic in many ways, some of her struggles continue to be potty training and focusing for meal times. I threw my white flag up this week since we have been trying to master the potty training for almost 2 years now. We visited a psychologist yesterday to discuss ways we can help her become more successful. One reason we sought this kind of help is because Charlotte has always had major fears of loud, unexpected noises (dryers, dog barking, cheering, blender, fireworks, Happy Birthday singing, vacuum... and to add to the list, self flushing toilets, or the toilet flush if loud). I feel that if she is scared, there will be no motivation to toilet train, so we are seeking help for a new perspective. Disappointingly, 80% of what the Dr. said was "pat on the back", that we were already doing much of what she would suggest. The other 20% was trying to decipher if she is "afraid" or just have sensory issues, and we both agreed it is probably a combo of both. She left me with recommendation of a book to read about anxiety, and the suggestion to tackle the sensory aspect further. We all want that magical fix, and I knew it wouldn't happen over night, but I honestly was happy and sad when I left. We just want to help her conquer this hurdle. We also wanted a psychologist available to help us tackle how to handle any problems she may have as she begins to realize her differences from her peers, and being smaller than all of her classmates. We want to empower her as much as we can and teach her that she can stand up for herself even though she is small.

Wow, so much to say, but that is what happens when you don't blog for a while. And, that summary is only about the kids :-) More about me later... Time for some pictures of the kids, what you all probably are waiting for!

Happy little Grant

Charlotte with me at Children's Hospital waiting room

Love the raised eyebrows...

iPhones are great for capturing many moments throughout the day

Charlotte brushing up on her reading skills. She isn't actually reading, but I think the words she makes up are so cute!

More smiles

Passed out in the car seat

Charlotte's beanbag is a great place to set Grant for a minute while I am busy with her in her room.

Love this picture, my handsome little guy.

One of our many nights at Ranken Jordan, ready to swim!

Say CHEESE!

Dimples are so cute!

One of my new favorites! We ventured to the zoo last weekend.

Mom & the kids...

Charlotte got pretty close to the sea lion after the show. Last year she wouldn't even watch! Progress!

Dancing to the music before the show started.

I love this pic of Charlotte, so candid

More from this busy blogging mom soon. There really is so much to say, but most importantly, I love my family and am so excited about our future together.

Jenn

P.S. I did it!!!